Restoring a 1956 Johnson Javelin motor-paint job complete!

[KathyD19]

Well, almost complete. I only have the hood done; I still have to remove the rest of the motor from the boat and sand/paint it. But I am so happy with how this turned out, I had to share it with you all! When I got the boat and motor, the previous owner had painted the motor a camo-motiff. Ugh. I have never sanded down and restored anything before but my brother has redone old refrigerators and made them look like Coca Cola machines so I got his input. The taping off took the longest but it was worth it. It's not perfect, but it's a lot better than it used to be! The chromed areas on the sides and the front were in really, really bad shape. It was too expensive to rechrome them so I just used chrome-colored paint. Wish it would have come out as shiny as chrome but still, not too bad. I am looking for a new Javelin badge (the oval gold one) for the front and also need the badges from both sides that say "Javelin" if you have any leads to them. I have been watching on Ebay but no luck so far.

 

[kfa4303]

Re: Restoring a 1956 Johnson Javelin motor-paint job complete!

Lookin' good Kathy. Check nymarine.com for paint and decals. Try placing a WTB add on aomci.org. It's a great place to start hunting for badges.

 

[GT1000000]

Re: Restoring a 1956 Johnson Javelin motor-paint job complete!

Very nice job, looks a million times better than the cheesy camo job...

BTW, for future reference, you can get a chrome look a couple of different ways, one of them is to have the local graphics shop get you chrome-like vinyl...the other is to check the hobby shops for silver mylar that has an adhesive on it that is activated with heat...kind of like the shiny mylar birthday balloons, except this stuff is used on remote controlled airplanes to cover the fuselages and/or wings...

 

[KathyD19]

Re: Restoring a 1956 Johnson Javelin motor-paint job complete!

Great hints about finding the badges and also about the chrome! Would never have thought of that. A friend of mine saw the cowling today and commented that I should have painted the chrome areas gold instead of silver. When I asked why, she said that it looked like an "Iron Man" mask! LOL. Now that I look at it, from the back side, I can definitely see the resemblance. Maybe I should make up a vinyl cling that I can put on the back that looks like Iron Man!

 

[greenbush future]

Re: Restoring a 1956 Johnson Javelin motor-paint job complete!

I getting ready to do a pair of 1957 Johnsons, have them all stripped down and getting ready to prime, then then paint, hope they turn out as nice as yours did. Is that a 35 HP Johnson?

 

[jigngrub]

Re: Restoring a 1956 Johnson Javelin motor-paint job complete!

Hood looks good! Did you rattle can it?

 

[KathyD19]

Re: Restoring a 1956 Johnson Javelin motor-paint job complete!

I was surprised when my brother recommended using a spray can rather than a spray painter but he said for smaller jobs like this it wasn't worth the time it takes to clean out the sprayer between colors. I used an automotive primer first and did wet-sanding lightly between coats with a 1000 grit paper. Greenbush Future, mine is a 30 hp since it's the 1956 motor. The best advice I can give you is to take your time and don't rush it! Use the tape made for painting (like the blue stuff or Frog tape) and tape the lines out as perfectly as you can (difficult around curved areas and I used tweezers and a mini flat blade screwdriver to be sure it was exact.) pressing the tape firmly to the hood so paint can't bleed underneath. Also after taping off my lined areas, then I just taped newspaper over the rest of it but I found out when I took the paper off that if there was any area that wasn't completely, and I mean completely, taped and sealed off all along the edge of the paper, the aerosol would find a way underneath. I ended up repainting the entire red portion again because a little bit of the white had snuck underneath the paper, dang it! So after waiting 24 hours, I re-taped it but this time, rather than taping more paper on it, I just used tape on the entire thing, overlapping each strip so there was no chance for sneaky paint! Be sure you peel off the tape at a 45 degree angle and don't leave it on for days. (also wait a day before you apply tape to a freshly painted area or else you can pull it off when you remove the tape) Be sure to shake the cans the full 2 min. before spraying and most importantly do several light coats! Like I said, you have to take your time. If you spray it too heavy it will run and then it's a pain in the butt to have to sand it down and get that area even with the rest of it on the next coat. Finish off with several layers of clear acrylic gloss (I used automotive quality for that too, the colored paint was just Krylon brand though). Good luck! And be sure to post pictures of your finished product!